arXiv subjects

Janine Splettstoesser

Publications and source records attributed to Janine Splettstoesser.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

Equilibrium finite-frequency noise of an interacting mesoscopic capacitor studied in time-dependent density functional theory

We calculate the frequency-dependent equilibrium noise of a mesoscopic capacitor in time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). The capacitor is modeled as a single-level quantum dot with on-site Coulomb interaction and tunnel coupling to a nearby reservoir. The noise spectra are derived from linear-response conductances via the fluctuation-dissipation theorem. Thereby, we analyze the performance of a recently derived exchange-correlation potential with time-nonlocal density dependence in the finite-frequency linear-response regime. We compare our TDDFT noise spectra with real-time perturbation theory and find excellent agreement for noise frequencies below the reservoir temperature.

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arXiv2018

Non-Adiabatic Dynamics in Single-Electron Tunneling Devices with Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory

We simulate the dynamics of a single-electron source, modeled as a quantum dot with on-site Coulomb interaction and tunnel coupling to an adjacent lead, in time-dependent density functional theory. Based on this system, we develop a time-nonlocal exchange-correlation potential by exploiting analogies with quantum-transport theory. The time non-locality manifests itself in a dynamical potential step. We explicitly link the time evolution of the dynamical step to physical relaxation time scales of the electron dynamics. Finally, we discuss prospects for simulations of larger mesoscopic systems.

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arXiv2018

Shaping charge excitations in chiral edge states with a time-dependent gate voltage

We study a coherent conductor supporting a single edge channel in which alternating current pulses are created by local time-dependent gating and sent on a beam-splitter realized by a quantum point contact. The current response to the gate voltage in this setup is intrinsically linear. Based on a fully self-consistent treatment employing a Floquet scattering theory, we analyze the effect of different voltage shapes and frequencies, as well as the role of the gate geometry on the injected signal. In particular, we highlight the impact of frequency-dependent screening on the process of shaping the current signal. The feasibility of creating true single-particle excitations with this method is confirmed by investigating the suppression of excess noise, which is otherwise created by additional electron-hole pair excitations in the current signal.

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arXiv2017

Thermoelectrics of Interacting Nanosystems -- Exploiting Superselection instead of Time-Reversal Symmetry

Thermoelectric transport is traditionally analyzed using relations imposed by time-reversal symmetry, ranging from Onsager's results to fluctuation relations in counting statistics. In this paper, we show that a recently discovered duality relation for fermionic systems -- deriving from the fundamental fermion-parity superselection principle of quantum many-particle systems -- provides new insights into thermoelectric transport. Using a master equation, we analyze the stationary charge and heat currents through a weakly coupled, but strongly interacting single-level quantum dot subject to electrical and thermal bias. In linear transport, the fermion-parity duality shows that features of thermoelectric response coefficients are actually dominated by the average and fluctuations of the charge in a dual quantum dot system, governed by attractive instead of repulsive electron-electron interaction. In the nonlinear regime, the duality furthermore relates most transport coefficients to much better understood equilibrium quantities. Finally, we naturally identify the fermion-parity as the part of the Coulomb interaction relevant for both the linear and nonlinear Fourier heat. Altogether, our findings hence reveal that next to time-reversal, the duality imposes equally important symmetry restrictions on thermoelectric transport. As such, it is also expected to simplify computations and clarify the physical understanding for more complex systems than the simplest relevant interacting nanostructure model studied here.

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arXiv2017

Probing charge and heat current noise by frequency-dependent temperature and potential fluctuations

The energetic properties of electron transport in mesoscopic and nanoscale conductors is of large current interest. Here we theoretically investigate the possibility of probing fluctuations of charge and heat currents as well as their mixed correlations via fluctuations of the temperature and electrochemical potential of a probe coupled to the conductor. Our particular interest is devoted to the charge and energy noise stemming from time-dependently driven nanoelectronic systems designed for the controlled emission of single electrons, even though our setup is appropriate for more general AC driving schemes. We employ a Boltzmann-Langevin approach in order to relate the frequency-dependent electrochemical potential and temperature fluctuations in the probe to the bare charge and energy current fluctuations emitted from the electron source. We apply our findings to the prominent example of an on-demand single-electron source, realized by a driven mesoscopic capacitor in the quantum Hall regime. We show that neither the background fluctuations of the probe in the absence of the working source, nor the fluctuations induced by the probe hinder the access to the sought-for direct source noise for a large range of parameters.

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arXiv2016

Relaxation of quantum dots in a magnetic field at finite bias -- charge, spin and heat currents

We perform a detailed study of the effect of finite bias and magnetic field on the tunneling-induced decay of the state of a quantum dot by applying a recently discovered general duality [PRB 93, 81411 (2016)]. This duality provides deep physical insight into the decay dynamics of electronic open quantum systems with strong Coulomb interaction. It associates the amplitudes of decay eigenmodes of the actual system to the eigenmodes of a so-called dual system with attractive interaction. Thereby, it predicts many surprising features in the transient transport and its dependence on experimental control parameters: the attractive interaction of the dual model shows up as sharp features in the amplitudes of measurable time-dependent currents through the actual repulsive system. In particular, for interacting quantum dots, the time-dependent heat current exhibits a decay mode that dissipates the interaction energy and that is tied to the fermion parity of the system. We show that its decay amplitude has an unexpected gate-voltage dependence that is robust up to sizable bias voltages and then bifurcates, reflecting that the Coulomb blockade is lifted in the dual system. Furthermore, combining our duality relation with the known Iche-duality, we derive new symmetry properties of the decay rates as a function of magnetic field and gate voltage. Finally, we quantify charge- and spin-mode mixing due to the magnetic field using a single mixing parameter.

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arXiv2016

Clocked single-spin source based on a spin-split superconductor

We propose an accurate clocked single-spin source for ac-spintronic applications. Our device consists of a superconducting island covered by a ferromagnetic insulator layer through which it is coupled to superconducting leads. Single-particle transfer relies on the energy gaps and the island's charging energy, and is enabled by a bias and a time-periodic gate voltage. Accurate spin transfer is achieved by the ferromagnetic insulator layer which polarizes the island, provides spin-selective tunneling barriers and improves the precision by suppressing Andreev reflection. We analyze realistic material combinations and experimental requirements which allow for a clocked spin current in the MHz regime.

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arXiv2016

Readout of relaxation rates by nonadiabatic pumping spectroscopy

We put forward nonadiabatic charge pumping as a method for accessing the different charge relaxation rates as well as the relaxation rates of excited orbital states in double-quantum-dot setups, based on extremely size-limited quantum dots and dopant systems. The rates are obtained in a well-separated manner from plateaus, occurring when comparing the steady-state current for reversed driving cycles. This yields a reliable readout independent of any fitting parameters. Importantly, the nonadiabatic pumping spectroscopy essentially exploits the same driving scheme as the operation of these devices generally employs. We provide a detailed analysis of the working principle of the readout scheme as well as of possible errors, thereby demonstrating its broad applicability. The precise knowledge of relaxation rates is highly relevant for the implementation of time-dependently operated devices, such as electron pumps for metrology or qubits in quantum information.

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arXiv2015

Thermoelectricity without absorbing energy from the heat sources

We analyze the power output of a quantum dot machine coupled to two electronic reservoirs via thermoelectric contacts, and to two thermal reservoirs - one hot and one cold. This machine is a nanoscale analogue of a conventional thermocouple heat-engine, in which the active region being heated is unavoidably also exchanging heat with its cold environment. Heat exchange between the dot and the thermal reservoirs is treated as a capacitive coupling to electronic fluctuations in localized levels, modeled as two additional quantum dots. The resulting multiple-dot setup is described using a master equation approach. We observe an "exotic" power generation, which remains finite even when the heat absorbed from the thermal reservoirs is zero (in other words the heat coming from the hot reservoir all escapes into the cold environment). This effect can be understood in terms of a non-local effect in which the heat flow from heat source to the cold environment generates power via a mechanism which we refer to as Coulomb heat drag. It relies on the fact that there is no relaxation in the quantum dot system, so electrons within it have a non-thermal energy distribution. More poetically, one can say that we find a spatial separation of the first-law of thermodynamics (heat to work conversion) from the second-law of thermodynamics (generation of entropy). We present circumstances in which this non-thermal system can generate more power than any conventional macroscopic thermocouple (with local thermalization), even when the latter works with Carnot efficiency.

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arXiv2015

Dephasing due to quasiparticle tunneling in fluxonium qubits: a phenomenological approach

The fluxonium qubit has arisen as one of the most promising candidate devices for implementing quantum information in superconducting devices, since it is both insensitive to charge noise (like flux qubits) and insensitive to flux noise (like charge qubits). Here, we investigate the stability of the quantum information to quasiparticle tunneling through a Josephson junction. Microscopically, this dephasing is due to the dependence of the quasiparticle transmission probability on the qubit state. We argue that on a phenomenological level the dephasing mechanism can be understood as originating from heat currents, which are flowing in the device due to possible effective temperature gradients, and their sensitivity to the qubit state. The emerging dephasing time is found to be insensitive to the number of junctions with which the superinductance of the fluxonium qubit is realised. Furthermore, we find that the dephasing time increases quadratically with the shunt-inductance of the circuit which highlights the stability of the device to this dephasing mechanism.

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arXiv2015

Finite-frequency noise in a quantum dot with normal and superconducting leads

We consider a single-level quantum dot tunnel-coupled to one normal and one superconducting lead. We employ a diagrammatic real-time approach to calculate the finite-frequency current noise for subgap transport. The noise spectrum gives direct access to the internal dynamics of the dot. In particular the noise spectrum shows sharp dips at the frequency of the coherent oscillations of Cooper pairs between dot and superconductor. This feature is most pronounced when the superconducting correlation is maximal. Furthermore, in the quantum-noise regime, $ω> k_\text{B}T,μ_\text{N}$, the noise spectrum exhibits steps at frequencies equal to the Andreev addition energies. The height of these steps is related to the effective coupling strength of the excitations. The finite-frequency noise spectrum hence provides a full spectroscopy of the system.

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arXiv2015

Interference and multi-particle effects in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer with single-particle sources

We investigate a Mach-Zehnder interferometer fed by two time-dependently driven single-particle sources, one of them placed in front of the interferometer, the other in the center of one of the arms. As long as the two sources are operated independently, the signal at the output of the interferometer shows an interference pattern, which we analyze in the spectral current, in the charge and energy currents, as well as in the charge current noise. The synchronization of the two sources in this specifically designed setup allows for collisions and absorptions of particles at different points of the interferometer, which have a strong impact on the detected signals. It introduces further relevant time-scales and can even lead to a full suppression of the interference in some of the discussed quantities. The complementary interpretations of this phenomenon in terms of spectral properties and tunable two-particle effects (absorptions and quantum exchange effects) are put forward in this article.

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arXiv2015

Measurement and dephasing of a flux qubit due to heat currents

We study a flux qubit, made of a superconducting loop interrupted by three Josephson junctions, which is subject to a temperature gradient. We show that the heat current induced by the temperature gradient, being sensitive to the superconducting phase differences at the junctions, depends significantly on the state of the qubit. We furthermore investigate the impact of the heat current on the coherence properties of the qubit state. We have found that even small temperature gradients can lead to dephasing times of the order of microseconds for the Delft-qubit design.

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arXiv2015

Correlations between charge and energy current in ac-driven coherent conductors

We study transport in coherent conductors driven by a time-periodic bias voltage. We present results of the charge and energy noise and complement them by a study of the mixed noise, namely the zero-frequency correlator between charge and energy current. The mixed noise presents interference contributions and transport contributions, showing features different from those of charge and energy noise. The mixed noise can be accessed by measuring the correlator between the fluctuations of the power provided to the system and the charge current.

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arXiv2015

Energy and power fluctuations in ac-driven coherent conductors

Using a scattering matrix approach we study transport in coherent conductors driven by a time-periodic bias voltage. We investigate the role of electron-like and hole-like excitations created by the driving in the energy current noise and we reconcile previous studies on charge current noise in this kind of systems. The energy noise reveals additional features due to electron-hole correlations. These features should be observable in power fluctuations. In particular, we show results for the case of a harmonic and bi-harmonic driving and of Lorentzian pulses applied to a two-terminal conductor, addressing the recent experiments of Refs. 1 and 2.

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arXiv2014

Detection of the relaxation rates of an interacting quantum dot by a capacitively coupled sensor dot

We present a theoretical study of the detection of the decay time scales for a single-level quantum dot by means of a capacitively coupled sensor dot, which acts as an electrometer. We investigate the measurement back-action on the quantum-dot decay rates and elucidate its mechanism. We explicitly show that the setup can be used to measure the bare quantum-dot relaxation rates by choosing gate pulses that minimize the back-action. Interestingly, we find that besides the charge relaxation rate, also the rate associated to the fermion parity in the dot can be accessed with this setup.

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arXiv2013

Thermoelectric performance of a driven double quantum dot

In this paper we investigate the thermoelectric performance of a double-dot device driven by time-dependently modulated gate voltages. We show that if the modulation frequency Ω is sufficiently small, not only quantized charge pumping can be realized, but also the heat current flowing in the leads is quantized and exhibits plateaux in units of kB T ln2 Ω/2π. The factor ln2 stems from the degeneracy of the double-dot states involved into transport. This opens the possibility of using the pumping cycle to transfer heat against a temperature gradient or to extract work from a hot reservoir with Carnot efficiency. However, the performance of a realistic device is limited by dissipative effects due to leakage currents and finite-frequency operation, which we take into account rigorously by means of a generalized master equation approach in the regime where the double dot is weakly coupled to the leads. We show that despite these effects, the efficiency of a double-dot charge pump performing work against a dc-source can reach of up to 70% of the ideal value.

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arXiv2013

Zero-frequency noise in adiabatically driven, interacting quantum systems

We investigate current-current correlations of adiabatic charge pumping through interacting quantum dots weakly coupled to reservoirs. To calculate the zero-frequency noise for a time-dependently driven system, possibly in the presence of an additional dc bias, we perform within a real-time diagrammatic approach a perturbative expansion in the tunnel coupling to the reservoirs in leading and next-to-leading order. We apply this formalism to study the adiabatic correction to the zero-frequency noise, i.e., the pumping noise, in the case of a single-level quantum dot charge pump. If no stationary bias is applied, the adiabatic correction shows Coulomb-interaction-induced deviations from the fluctuation-dissipation theorem. Furthermore, we show that the adiabatic correction to the Fano factor carries information about the coupling asymmetry and is independent of the choice of the pumping parameters. When including a time-dependent finite bias, we find that there can be pumping noise even if there is zero adiabatically pumped charge. The pumping noise also indicates the respective direction of the bias-induced current and the pumping current.

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